It’s not often that you encounter strangers that just give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside.  You know, the ones that make you just want to say, “Now dem is some nahce folk!”

I mentioned in my Autumn Walk post, that on our recent trip up north, we met an old gentleman who was taking his elderly Auntie up the mountain to see three states.  She had never seen the view before and never had the opportunity to travel.   Just simple folk….from the area.

As we were making the trek up to the observation point, the kids leading the way, I heard a sweet old voice say, “Are you girls lost?”   (I laughed to myself, since one of those “girls” was most definitely NOT a “girl” and looks NOTHING like a “girl”.)

When they got to where we were, they stopped to chat “fer a spell”, as if we were long lost friends!  I knew I would like her, just from her smile.  She said, “I bet you lahk to clamb the heel, don’t shu?  I lahk to clamb the heel!  Does he lahk the clamb the heel?”  Then she told us a story about when she was a little girl and she’d climb up on the roof of the barn and throw sticks down on the tobacco!

After several minutes of wonderful stories and conversation, I remembered that the cellphone I held in my hand had a voice memo app!   I quickly fumbled for the record button, with no malicious intent!  I just wanted to record these great stories about days gone by.   We listened to it several times during the day and it made us smile.

Now…sit a spell and take a listen:

“…an we cried til we lahk to die!”  Now, doesn’t that just make you smile! 🙂

 Simple Folk.  Simple Gift.

There are times you don’t recognize the gift until the gift has come and gone.

Some gifts are not necessarily all that enjoyable when they are first encountered.  Maybe they need time to stew a bit.

Take this for example….My loving and kind parents gave me the gift of piano lessons.  I usually did not like to practice.  For eight long years, I endured practicing every day and yearly, horrifying recitals that made my knees shake so violently I had trouble focusing on the music in front of my nose.  (Rambling sentence, I know!)  And please,  whatever you do, do NOT make me memorize it.   You’ve been there, right?

So was the gift really the piano lessons?   I think the gifts were these:

MUSIC APPRECIATION, CREATIVE INSPIRATION, COURAGE, PERSEVERANCE, HUMILITY

Today, I am thankful for the gift of piano lessons!  For while I rarely sit down and play, I am always inspired by music.  For while I rarely sit down and play, I have the courage to step out of my comfort zone and try new things.  For while I rarely sit down and play, I have a stubborn perseverance to polish the product…whatever the new “product” happens to be.  And lastly, even after I’ve polished the “product”, my mistakes cry out to me that I am still a work in process.   

Thank you, Mom & Dad, for making me take piano lessons!!

 No…that is not my actual piano! 🙂